Image capturing apparatus having built-in microphone

ABSTRACT

An image capturing apparatus having a forced air cooling function and capable of having an accessory attached thereto includes an image capturing apparatus body. A lens mount is provided on the apparatus body and can have a shooting lens removably attached thereto. An attachment portion is provided on the apparatus body and can have the accessory removably attached thereto. A built-in microphone is arranged on a side of a surface of the apparatus body, different from any of a surface where an air outlet port for discharging air used for forced cooling is arranged, a surface where the lens mount is arranged, and a surface where the attachment portion is arranged. The built-in microphone is arranged at a location closer to a top surface of the image capturing apparatus body than a bottom surface thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus having abuilt-in microphone.

Description of the Related Art

Professional digital video cameras for video production often use anexternal microphone to record the voice of a person as an object andenvironmental sound with higher sound quality simultaneously withshooting a video. Some professional digital video cameras are equippedwith a built-in microphone, separately from the above-mentioned externalmicrophone, mainly for collecting the voice of a shooter to record thevoice as a memo for use in checking and editing shot video data.

Power consumption of the digital video camera has increased inaccordance with higher resolution and higher frame rate achieved inrecent years. For this reason, digital video cameras equipped with aforced cooling mechanism for cooling heat sources with outside air usinga fan are mainstream products. However, there is a fear that vibrations,mechanical noise, and electrical noise, generated by the fan of theforced cooling mechanism affects recording using the built-inmicrophone.

To cope with this, a configuration of an image capturing apparatus isknown in which a built-in microphone is disposed on a front side of theimage capturing apparatus together with a lens mount, and a fan isarranged toward a rear side of the same, whereby the built-in microphoneis made distant from the fan as a noise source (see e.g. JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2019-95564).

However, this configuration has the following problem:

First, an interchangeable lens (a shooting lens) attached to the lensmount can be a noise source due to driving noise generated duringautofocus, etc. In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Laid-OpenPatent Publication (Kokai) No. 2019-95564, since the built-in microphoneis arranged on a side where the lens mount is provided, the built-inmicrophone can be affected by the noise generated by the interchangeablelens. Further, a shooter rarely performs shooting in a state standingbefore the front side of the apparatus where the lens mount is provided.Therefore, as for professional digital video cameras including those forvideo production, which use a built-in microphone for recordingshooter's voice as a memo, if the built-in microphone is arranged on theside where the lens mount is provide as in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication (Kokai) No. 2019-95564, there is a fear that it is difficultto collect the voice of a shooter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an image capturing apparatus including abuilt-in microphone, which is configured to collect the voice of ashooter with ease while reducing the influence of mechanical noise andelectrical noise.

The present invention provides an image capturing apparatus having aforced air cooling function and capable of having an accessory attachedthereto, comprising an image capturing apparatus body including an imagesensor, a lens mount which is provided on the image capturing apparatusbody and to which a shooting lens can be removably attached, anattachment portion which is provided on the image capturing apparatusbody and to which the accessory can be removably attached, and abuilt-in microphone which is arranged on a side of a surface of theimage capturing apparatus body, different from any of a surface where anair outlet port for discharging air used for forced cooling is arranged,a surface where the lens mount is arranged, and a surface where theattachment portion is arranged, wherein the built-in microphone isarranged at a location closer to a top surface of the image capturingapparatus body than a bottom surface thereof.

According to the present invention, it is possible to collect the voiceof a shooter with ease while reducing the influence of mechanical noiseand electrical noise.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an imagecapturing system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image capturing system in a state inwhich attached units are removed from an image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the image capturing system.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the image capturing apparatus bodyin a state in which a grip unit and a lens barrel are attached thereto.

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the image capturing apparatus bodyin the state in which the grip unit and the lens barrel are attachedthereto.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 7 is a left side view of the image capturing apparatus body in astate in which a wireless unit is attached thereto.

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of members related to cooling of theinside of the image capturing apparatus body, in an assembled state.

FIG. 8B is an exploded perspective view of the members related tocooling of the inside of the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GB-GB in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a microphone and membersassociated therewith.

FIG. 11 is a right side view of the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view of the grip unit.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of members associated withspeaker holes of the image capturing apparatus body.

FIGS. 14A to 14C are left side views of the image capturing apparatusbody in a state in which the grip unit is attached thereto.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the image capturing apparatus body in a statein which the grip unit is in a normal position with respect thereto.

FIG. 16A is a perspective view of the wireless unit.

FIG. 16B is an exploded perspective view of the wireless unit.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GA-GA in FIG. 7.

FIG. 18A is a perspective view of a body-side fastening portion, asviewed from outside the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 18B is a perspective view of the body-side fastening portion, asviewed from inside the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 19 is a partial perspective view of the image capturing apparatusbody in a state in which the wireless unit is attached thereto.

FIGS. 20A to 20C are perspective views of an accessory attachmentportion and its surroundings.

FIGS. 21A to 21C are perspective views of the body-side fasteningportion and a body-side connection terminal.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of the body-side connection terminal and itssurroundings of the image capturing apparatus body.

FIG. 23A is a top view of the surroundings of the body-side connectionterminal.

FIG. 23B is a cross-sectional view taken along line K-K in FIG. 23A.

FIG. 24A is a perspective view of a rotation prevention member.

FIG. 24B is an exploded perspective view of the rotation preventionmember.

FIGS. 24C and 24D are schematic cross-sectional views of a manualfastening screw and its surroundings.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are schematic cross-sectional views of the manualfastening screw and its surroundings.

FIGS. 25C and 25D are views of the rotation prevention member, as viewedfrom the Y direction.

FIGS. 26A to 26C are views showing steps of attaching the rotationprevention member and the wireless unit to the image capturing apparatusbody.

FIG. 27 is an exploded perspective view of the image capturing apparatusbody.

FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view of the image capturing apparatusbody.

FIG. 29 is a front view of a rear cover unit.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view of a main unit and the rear cover unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail below withreference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments thereof.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an imagecapturing system including an image capturing apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. This image capturing system,denoted by reference numeral 1000, is formed by attaching a plurality ofattachment units to an image capturing apparatus body 1001. Theattachment units include a grip unit 1002, a lens barrel 1003, awireless unit 1004, a viewfinder unit 1005, a handle 1006, a panel unit1007, and a battery 1008. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the imagecapturing system 1000 in a state in which the attachment units areremoved from the image capturing apparatus body 1001.

The image capturing apparatus body 1001 is configured e.g. as a digitalvideo camera capable of shooting a moving image. The grip unit 1002, thelens barrel 1003, the wireless unit 1004, the viewfinder unit 1005, andthe panel unit 1007 are each electrically connected to the imagecapturing apparatus body 1001 by a connection section included therein.

Note that the image capturing apparatus body 1001 may be referred to asthe image capturing apparatus of the present invention. Alternatively,the image capturing system 1000 may be referred to as the imagecapturing apparatus of the present invention. Further, the imagecapturing apparatus body 1001 having at least one of the plurality ofattachment units given as examples, attached thereto in advance, may bereferred to as the image capturing apparatus of the present invention.For example, a lens-integrated apparatus formed by integrating the imagecapturing apparatus body 1001 and a shooting lens, such as the lensbarrel 1003, may be referred to as the image capturing apparatus.Hereafter, the image capturing apparatus body 1001 is sometimesdescribed as the “apparatus body 1001” in an abbreviated form.

Note that directions of each component of the image capturing system1000 are referred to with reference to X, Y, and Z coordinate axes shownin FIG. 1 and other figures. Here, in a direction of a shooting opticalaxis of the attached lens barrel 1003, a direction toward an object(front side) is referred to as “forward”, and a direction toward ashooter is referred to as “rearward” for convenience of explanation.Therefore, for example, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a +Y direction is defined as“upward”, and a +Z direction is defined as “forward”. A +X direction asviewed from an object side is defined as “rightward”. Z directions areparallel to the optical axis direction.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the image capturing system 1000.The functional configuration of the image capturing system 1000 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3.

The apparatus body 1001 includes an image sensor 1101, and the imagesensor 1101 includes a CCD or CMOS image sensor, and ananalog-to-digital converter. An optical image is formed on the CCD orCMOS image sensor via the lens barrel 1003. The CCD or CMOS image sensoroutputs electrical signals (analog signals) corresponding to the opticalimage, and the analog-to-digital converter converts the analog signalsto digital signals to output the digital signals as image data.

The apparatus body 1001 includes a CPU 1102, a ROM 1103, and a RAM 1104,and these components are mounted on a main processing circuit board 1105(see FIG. 8A), described hereinafter. The ROM 1103 is an electricallyerasable and recordable memory, and is implemented, for example, by anEEPROM. The ROM 1103 stores constants, programs, etc. for the operationof the CPU 1102. The CPU 1102 realizes the centralized control of theapparatus body 1001. The CPU 1102 executes processes by executing theprograms stored in the ROM 1103. The RAM 1104 is used as a systemmemory, a work memory, an image memory, and an audio memory. Theconstants, variables, and the programs read from the ROM 1103, etc., forthe operation of the CPU 1102 are loaded into the RAM 1104.

Video data converted by the image sensor 1101, and audio signals inputfrom a built-in microphone 1106 and subjected to gain control to apredetermined level and thereafter converted from analog to digital aretemporarily stored in the RAM 1104. The CPU 1102 sends the video dataand audio data stored in the RAM 1104 to a recording section 1107.Recording media 1108 can be inserted and removed into and from therecording section 1107 of the apparatus body 1001. The video data andthe audio data are recorded in the inserted recording media 1108. As therecording media 1108, removal flash memories, such as SD cards, areused.

In the main processing circuit board 1105, heat is generated inaccordance with various processing operations performed by the CPU 1102,the ROM 1103, the RAM 1104, etc. To cope with this, a temperaturedetection section 1109, such as a thermistor, is mounted on the mainprocessing circuit board 1105. The apparatus body 1001 is provided witha fan 1110 for air cooling. The rotational state of the fan 1110 iscontrolled by the CPU 1102 based on a temperature detected by thetemperature detection section 1109.

A body operation section 1111 is operated by a user and provides variousinstructions to the CPU 1102. The body operation section 1111 includes abody REC button 1112, a power switch 1113, and a body operation buttongroup 1114 (see FIG. 4). An operation sound generated when the bodyoperation section 1111 is operated and a beep generated when recordingof a video is started/stopped are output from a speaker 1115 under thecontrol of the CPU 1102. A power supply controller 1116 is comprised ofa battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit forswitching blocks to be energized, and so forth, and detects whether ornot a battery is attached, a battery type, and a battery remainingamount. The battery 1008 is e.g. a lithium ion battery and supplieselectrical power to the apparatus body 1001.

When a grip communication contact portion 1117 of the apparatus body1001 and a grip electrical communication contact portion 1118 of thegrip unit 1002 are brought into contact with each other to beelectrically connected to each other, the CPU 1102 can detect attachmentof the grip unit 1002. Operation inputs from a grip operation section1119 of the grip unit 1002 give various instructions to the CPU 1102 ofthe apparatus body 1001. When a lens communication contact portion 1120of the apparatus body 1001 and a lens electrical communication contactportion 1121 of the lens barrel 1003 are brought into contact with eachother to be electrically connected to each other, the CPU 1102 candetect attachment of the lens barrel 1003. When attachment of the lensbarrel 1003 is detected, the CPU 1102 reads lens information from a lensmemory 1122, and stores the read lens information in the RAM 1104.

The wireless unit 1004 is an example of an accessory which enableswireless connection to an external device. When a body-side connectionterminal 1123 of the apparatus body 1001 and an accessory-sideconnection terminal 1124 of the wireless unit 1004 are brought intocontact with each other to be electrically connected to each other, theCPU 1102 can detect attachment of the wireless unit 1004. Whenattachment of the wireless unit 1004 is detected, the CPU 1102 sendsvideo data and audio data stored in the RAM 1104 to the wireless unit1004. The apparatus body 1001 can transmit the video data and the audiodata from a communication section 1125 of the wireless unit 1004 to anexternal device.

When a viewfinder communication contact portion 1126 of the apparatusbody 1001 and a viewfinder unit communication contact portion 1127 ofthe viewfinder unit 1005 are brought into contact with each other to beelectrically connected to each other, the CPU 1102 can detect attachmentof the viewfinder unit 1005. When attachment of the viewfinder unit 1005is detected, the CPU 1102 sends video data and audio data stored in theRAM 1104 to the viewfinder unit 1005. A viewfinder display section 1128of the viewfinder unit 1005 displays the operating status of theapparatus body 1001 as on-screen display information as required.

When a panel communication contact portion 1129 of the apparatus body1001 and a panel unit communication contact portion 1130 of the panelunit 1007 are brought into contact with each other to be electricallyconnected to each other, the CPU 1102 can detect attachment of the panelunit 1007. When attachment of the panel unit 1007 is detected, the CPU1102 sends video data and audio data stored in the RAM 1104 to the panelunit 1007. A panel display section 1131 of the panel unit 1007 displaysthe operating status of the apparatus body 1001 as on-screen displayinformation as required. Note that the information items displayed onthe panel display section 1131 and the viewfinder display section 1128are sometimes identical to each other or sometimes different from eachother depending on a user operation.

In the image capturing system 1000 of the present embodiment, forexample, light received by the image sensor 1101 is converted to digitalimage data of at least approximately 23 frames per second (fps), and thedigital image data is recorded in one of the recording media 1108 by therecording section 1107. The frame rate can be set within a range fromapproximately 1 fps to not lower than approximately 250 fps. Forexample, the image capturing system 1000 may change the frame rateaccording to a set resolution. More specifically, a frame rate within arange from approximately 1 fps to approximately 100 fps is set in a “5K”resolution mode, a frame rate within a range from approximately 1 fps toapproximately 125 fps is set in a “4K” resolution mode, and a frame ratewithin a range from approximately 1 fps to approximately 125 fps is setin a Quad HD mode. A frame rate within a range from approximately 1 fpsto approximately 160 fps is set in a “3K” resolution mode, and a framerate within a range from approximately 1 fps to approximately 250 fps isset in a “2K” resolution mode. For example, as the frame rate, 20,23.976, 24, 30, 60 and 120 fps, or other frame rates between these framerates, or frame rates not lower than these frame rates may be set.

The image capturing system 1000 can output image data at a resolution of“2K” (such as 16:9 (2048×1152 pixels) and 2:1 (2048×1024 pixels)), aresolution of “3K” (such as 16:9 (3072×1728 pixels) and 2:1 (3072×1536pixels)), a resolution of “4K” (such as 4096×2540 pixels, 16:9(4096×2304 pixels), and 2:1 (4096×2048 pixels)), a resolution of “4.5K”,a resolution of Quad HD (such as 3840×2160 pixels), a resolution of “5K”(such as 5120×2700 pixels), a resolution of “6K” (such as 6144×3160pixels), a resolution of “8K” (such as 7680×4320 pixels), or aresolution higher than 8K. The image capturing system 1000 can beconfigured to record or output image data having a horizontal resolutionat least between any values of the above-mentioned resolutions.

Further, the resolution is at least one of the above-mentioned values(or some value between the above-mentioned values), and can takeapproximately 6.5K, 7K, 8K, 9K, or 10K, or some value between theabove-mentioned values. In the present embodiment, in informationexpressed in the form of xK (such as the above-mentioned 2K and 4K), thenumber of “x” refers to an approximate horizontal resolution. Therefore,the resolution of “4K” corresponds to the number of horizontal pixelswhich is approximately not smaller than 4000, and the resolution of “2K”corresponds to the number of horizontal pixels which is approximatelynot smaller than 2000.

The image sensor 1101 can be adapted to a size from approximately 0.5inch (8 mm) to ⅔ inch, S35 for a movie, 35 mm full-frame for a stillcamera, and up to 645 (medium size). Further, the image sensor 1101 canhave sizes of approximately 10.1 mm×5.35 mm, 24.4 mm×13.7 mm, 30 mm×15mm, 36 mm×24 mm, 56 mm×42 mm, and 186×56 mm. Further, the image sensor1101 can be configured to provide a variable resolution by selectivelyoutputting only predetermined part of the pixel area. The image sensor1101 can include e.g. color filters arranged in the Bayer array.Therefore, the image sensor 1101 outputs data indicating an amount ofred light, green light, or blue light, detected by each photoelectricconversion element of the image sensor 1101.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a front perspective view and a rear perspective viewof the apparatus body 1001 in a state in which the grip unit 1002 andthe lens barrel 1003 are attached thereto, respectively. FIG. 6 is arear perspective view of the apparatus body 1001. FIG. 7 is a left sideview of the apparatus body 1001 in a state in which the wireless unit1004 is attached thereto.

As shown in FIG. 4, the front side of the apparatus body 1001 isprovided with a lens mount 1201, the lens communication contact portion1120 (see FIG. 3; not shown in FIG. 4), and a lens release button 1202.The lens barrel 1003 is removably supported on the lens mount 1201. Thelens release button 1202 is operated by a user (shooter) when removingthe lens barrel 1003 attached to the apparatus body 1001.

Further, although not shown, within the apparatus body 1001, atrespective locations rearward of the lens mount 1201, there are disposedthe image sensor 1101 that receives light from an object to generatevideo signals and a sensor circuit board that converts the video signalsobtained by the image sensor 1101 to predetermined signals. The rightside of the apparatus body 1001 as viewed from the front is providedwith the body operation section 1111 including the body REC button 1112,the power switch 1113, and the body operation button group 1114. Theapparatus body 1001 executes an operation according to an operationinput by the shooter to the body operation section 1111. Further, theapparatus body 1001 includes an accommodating cover 1203 foraccommodating the recording media 1108 (see FIG. 3) and microphone holes1204 for collecting sound for the microphone 1106 (see FIG. 3), whichare provided on the right side thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rear side of the apparatus body 1001 is providedwith a battery receiving section 1301 for receiving the battery 1008,and an input/output terminal group 1302 including an external connectionterminal and a power supply terminal. Further, the rear side (rearsurface) of the apparatus body 1001 is provided with a fixing section1303 for fixing the viewfinder unit 1005 and the viewfindercommunication contact portion 1126. Further, a body rear side operationsection 1304 as part of the body operation section 1111 is provided onthe rear side of the apparatus body 1001.

As shown in FIG. 6, the left side of the apparatus body 1001 is providedwith an attachment mechanism 1405. The attachment mechanism 1405includes a body-side attachment member 1701 to which the grip unit 1002can be attached. The body-side attachment member 1701 is fixed to theapparatus body 1001 with screws 1706. The body-side attachment member1701 has a substantially disc-like shape and includes a body-side screw1703 provided in the center thereof. A grip-side screw 1702 (see FIG.12) of the grip unit 1002, referred to hereinafter, is screwed into thebody-side screw 1703. Further, the attachment mechanism 1405 has abody-side engagement portion 1705 to be engaged with a grip-sideengagement portion 1704 (see FIG. 12) of the grip unit 1002. Thebody-side engagement portion 1705 has protruding-shape portions andrecessed-shape portions, each formed to radially extend and arrangedalternately around the center of the attachment mechanism 1405 atpredetermined spaced intervals in a circumferential direction. Thebody-side engagement portion 1705 is engaged with the grip-sideengagement portion 1704 (see FIG. 12) having recessed-shape portions andprotruding-shape portions, associated with those of the body-sideengagement portion 1705. With this engagement, the grip unit 1002 andthe apparatus body 1001 are firmly fixed to each other.

Further, the left side of the apparatus body 1001 is provided withspeaker holes 1404 for emitting sound from the speaker 1115 (see FIG. 3)and an accessory attachment portion 2203 for having the wireless unit1004 attached thereto. The accessory attachment portion 2203 has thebody-side connection terminal 1123.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a perspective view and an exploded perspective viewof members related to cooling of the inside of the apparatus body 1001,respectively. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GB-GB inFIG. 7, showing a duct structure within the apparatus body 1001. Astructure for realizing a forced air cooling function of the imagecapturing system 1000 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B,and 9.

The apparatus body 1001 has a main duct 1403 as a duct portion formingan air flow passage through which air used for forced cooling flows. Anair inlet port 1401 and an air outlet port 1402 are formed in a leftside surface of the apparatus body 100 (see FIGS. 5, 7, and 9). The airinlet port 1401 and the air outlet port 1402 are an opening for drawingair for forced cooling and an opening for discharging the air,respectively.

As shown in FIG. 9, air taken in via the air inlet port 1401 asindicated by an arrow U71 flows through the main duct 1403. At thistime, heat from the main processing circuit board 1105, etc., istransferred to the air. After that, the heated air passes through thefan 1110 as indicated by arrows U72 and U73, and is discharged from theair outlet port 1402 as indicated by an arrow U74.

In the image capturing system 1000 of the present embodiment, it isassumed that a shooter carries the apparatus body 1001 on his/her rightshoulder when shooting. Therefore, the head of the shooter is adjacentto the right side of the apparatus body 1001 as viewed from the front ofthe apparatus body 1001. However, since the air outlet port 1402 of theapparatus body 1001 is arranged on the left side of the apparatus body1001, exhaust wind does not blow against the head of the shooter, whichprevents the shooter from being made uncomfortable.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the microphone 1106 and itssurroundings. FIG. 11 is a right side view of the apparatus body 1001.As described hereinabove, the body operation section 1111, theaccommodating cover 1203, and the microphone holes 1204 are arranged onthe right side of the apparatus body 1001. The microphone 1106 is fixedbetween a right-side exterior cover 1501 and a microphone-holding member1502 e.g. with a screw, not shown. The microphone holes 1204 arearranged close to a shadow of the microphone 1106 projected onto theright-side exterior cover 1501 in the +X direction.

In general, a shooter stands on the right side of the apparatus body1001 when the shooter performs basic operations of the apparatus body1001, such as a power-on/off operation, various setting operations, arecording operation, and an operation for inserting/removing any of therecording media 1108. Further, when the shooter performs shooting withthe apparatus body 1001 on his/her right shoulder, the right side of thehead of the shooter is close to the right side of the apparatus body1001.

A professional digital video camera for video production, in particular,often uses an external microphone so as to record the voice of a personas an object with higher sound quality. In this case, a built-inmicrophone of the digital video camera is usually used to record voiceas a memo for use in checking and editing shot video data, and hence thebuilt-in microphone is mainly used for collecting the voice of a shooter. In the present embodiment, the built-in microphone 1106 is located onthe same side as a surface (right side) where the body operation section1111 is disposed and insertion/removal of any of the recording media isperformed, and hence this makes it easy to collect the voice of theshooter when the shooter operates the apparatus body 1001 and performsshooting.

When the shooter performs shooting while carrying the image capturingsystem 1000 by hand, the shooter holds the grip unit 1002 as a gripportion with his/her right hand, and supports the bottom surface andsurroundings of the REC button 1112 (lower portion of the right side) ofthe image capturing system 1000 with his/her left hand. Further, it isassumed that the shooter frequently operates the body operation buttongroup 1114 and inserts/removes one of the recording media 1108, afterturning on the power of the apparatus body 1001. Here, the microphone1106 is disposed at a location closer to a top surface (upper surface)of the apparatus body 1001 than the bottom surface of the apparatus body1001, with respect to the Y direction. Therefore, when holding theapparatus body 1001 by hand, or when operating the body operation buttongroup 1114, or when inserting/removing any of the recording media 1108,it rarely occurs that the shooter inadvertently covers the microphoneholes 1204 with his/her hand.

As shown in FIG. 11, a measure pin 1601 is disposed on an upper portionof the apparatus body, and the location of the measure pin 1601 in theoptical axis direction corresponds to a plane on which the image sensor1101 is disposed. The measure pin 1601 is used when the shooter measuresa distance from the image sensor 1101 to an object using a measure. Themicrophone 1106 is disposed at a location rearward of the image sensor1101 and distant from the lens mount 1201 in the optical axis direction.That is, the microphone 1106 is arranged on an opposite side of theimage sensor 1101 to the lens mount 1201 in the optical axis direction.Various types of the lens barrel 1003 can be attached to the lens mount1201. Since the microphone 1106 is located rearward of the image sensor1101, the microphone 1106 is less prone to be affected by driving noiseof the lens barrel 1003 and electrical noise generated during autofocusoperation.

It is desirable that the microphone 1106 is disposed at a locationdistant from a mechanical noise source and an electrical noise source soas to clearly collect the voice of a shooter. In the present embodiment,autofocus noise of the lens barrel 1003 and exhaust noise of the forcedcooling structure are main mechanical noise sources. Further, the gripunit 1002, which is a rotation type, also becomes a noise source whenbeing rotated. The wireless unit 1004 and the viewfinder unit 1005 (seeboth in FIG. 1) can also be noise sources. A device connected to theinput/output terminal group 1302 (see FIG. 5) can be an electrical noisesource for the microphone 1106.

To cope with this, the microphone (and the microphone holes 1204) is/arearranged on the surface (right side surface) of the apparatus body 1001which is different from both of the surfaces where devices which can bea mechanical noise source and an electrical noise source are disposed orattached. First, the lens mount 1201 (see FIG. 4) is arranged on a frontside surface, and the air outlet port 1402 (see FIG. 5), the body-sideattachment member 1701 (see FIG. 6), and the accessory attachmentportion 2203 (and the body-side connection terminal 1123) (see FIG. 6)are arranged on the left side surface. The viewfinder communicationcontact portion 1126 (see FIG. 5) is arranged on a rear side surface,and the input/output terminal group 1302 (see FIG. 5) is arranged on aleft rear side surface. The microphone 1106 is arranged on the rightside surface different from all of the front side surface, the left sidesurface, the rear side surface, and the left rear side surface. Withthis arrangement, the microphone 1106 is less prone to pick upmechanical noise and electrical noise. Particularly, the microphone 1106is arranged on a surface of the image capturing apparatus body, oppositeto the surface where the accessory attachment portion 2203 (see FIG. 6)is arranged and hence the microphone 1106 is less prone to pick up noisefrom the wireless unit 1004.

FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view of the grip unit 1002. The grip unit1002 is an example of an accessory that makes it easy for a user to holdthe apparatus body 1001. A grasping portion 1801 is a portion which theuser grasps by hand and has a shape conforming to the fingers of a humanbeing. A grip belt 1802 is a member that is tightened to prevent auser's hand from being moved away from the grasping portion 1801. A gripREC button 1803, a cross key 1804, and an operation dial 1805 areoperation members and are connected to the apparatus body 1001 byelectrical wiring (not shown).

A grip-side attachment member 1806 is attached to the body-sideattachment member 1701 (see FIG. 6) when the grip unit 1002 is attachedto the apparatus body 1001, and has substantially the same size as thebody-side attachment member 1701. The grip-side attachment member 1806has the grip-side screw 1702 disposed in the center thereof for beingscrewed into the body-side screw 1703. The grip-side engagement portion1704 to be engaged with the body-side engagement portion 1705 isprovided outside the grip-side screw 1702. The grip-side engagementportion 1704 has the recessed-shape portions and protruding-shapeportions radially arranged, similar to the body-side engagement portion1705, from the center of the grip-side attachment member 1806 and isengaged with the body-side engagement portion 1705 to firmly fix thegrip unit 1002 and the apparatus body 1001 to each other. The grip-sideattachment member 1806 is fixed to the grip unit 1002 with screws 1807.The grip-side screw 1702 is mechanically connected to a tightening knob1808. When attaching the grip unit 1002 to the apparatus body 1001, theuser can rotate the grip-side screw 1702 by rotating the tightening knob1808 exposed to the outside.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of members associated with thespeaker holes 1404 of the apparatus body 1001. The speaker 1115 is fixedbetween a speaker retaining sheet metal 1902 and an exterior cover 1903with screws 1901. The speaker holes 1404 are provided in the vicinity ofthe attachment mechanism 1405 and are closely opposed to the speaker1115.

FIGS. 14A to 14C are left side views of the apparatus body 1001 in astate in which the grip unit 1002 is attached thereto. The user can seta rotational phase of the grip unit 1002 about a rotation center O withrespect to the apparatus body 1001 by appropriately selecting theengagement position between the attachment mechanism 1405 (see FIG. 6)and the grip-side engagement portion 1704 (see FIG. 12), as desired. InFIG. 14A, the grip unit 1002 is attached to the apparatus body 1001 in anormal position. In FIG. 14B, the grip unit 1002 is attached to theapparatus body 1001 in a state rotated from the normal position aboutthe rotation center O through 30° in a counterclockwise direction asviewed from the left. In FIG. 14C, the grip unit 1002 is attached to theapparatus body 1001 in a state rotated from the normal position aboutthe rotation center O through 30° in a clockwise direction as viewedfrom the left.

As viewed from the left side of the apparatus body 1001, the speakerholes 1404 are hidden by the grip unit 1002 in the states in FIGS. 14Aand 14B, and are not hidden by the grip unit 1002 in the state in FIG.14C. Thus, the speaker holes 1404 are often hidden by the grip unit 1002as viewed from the side of the surface where the grip unit 1002 isarranged. That is, in an angle range through which the grip unit 1002can be rotated, an angle range within which the speaker holes 1404 arehidden by the grip unit 1002 is wider than an angle range within whichthe speaker holes 1404 are not hidden by the grip unit 1002. Therefore,when a shooter grasps the grip unit 1002, the speaker holes 1404 areless often covered with a wrist or the like of the shooter.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the apparatus body 1001 in a state in whichthe grip unit 1002 is in the normal position with respect to theapparatus body 1001 (see FIG. 14A). As shown in FIG. 15, a clearance L1is secured between the speaker holes 1404 and the grip unit 1002 in theX direction. Further, spacing is never eliminated even when the gripunit 1002 is rotated to any position with respect to the apparatus body1001 and at least the clearance L1 is secured over the whole rangethrough which the grip unit 1002 can be rotated. This prevents soundoutput from the speaker holes 1404 from being shielded by the grip unit1002, and the user can hold the apparatus body 1001 without blocking thespeaker holes 1404. Further, the microphone 1106 and the speaker 1115are arranged within the casing of the apparatus body 1001 at respectivelocations distant from each other in the X direction. Particularly, themicrophone 1106 is arranged on a surface opposite to the surface wherethe speaker 1115 (and the speaker holes 1404) is/are arranged. Thismakes it possible to suppress howling from being caused by themicrophone 1106 picking up sound output from the speaker 1115.

As described hereabove, by attaching the wireless unit 1004 to theapparatus body 1001, it is possible to add a predetermined function tothe image capturing system 1000. As shown in FIG. 5, the accessoryattachment portion 2203 is arranged on the left side of the apparatusbody 1001. The accessory attachment portion 2203 includes not only thebody-side connection terminal 1123, but also a body-side fasteningportion 2001 (see FIGS. 8A, 8B, 17, and 20C). The body-side connectionterminal 1123 is connected to the accessory-side connection terminal1124 (see FIGS. 16B and 17) to supply power to and perform communicationwith the wireless unit 1004. The body-side fastening portion 2001 isfastened to an accessory-side fastening portion 2002 (see FIGS. 16A and16B), described hereinafter, by screwing.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are a perspective view and an exploded perspectiveview of the wireless unit 1004, respectively. When the wireless unit1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001, it is possible to operate,for example, the following functions: First, it is possible to transmitvideo data and audio data recorded in the image capturing system 1000 toan external device. Further, it is possible to transmit video data andaudio data currently being shot and collected by the image capturingsystem 1000 to the external device. Further, it is possible to operatethe shooting function, etc. of the image capturing system 1000 from theexternal device. Further, it is possible to change the settings of theshooting function, etc., of the image capturing system 1000 from theexternal device.

The wireless unit 1004 includes an accessory exterior 2201, anaccessory-side circuit board 2101, an antenna portion 2102, anaccessory-side attachment portion 2103, and a rotation stopperprotrusion 2801 (protruding portion). The antenna portion 2102 is acomponent for transmitting and receiving wireless radio waves and iselectrically connected to the accessory-side circuit board 2101. Theantenna portion 2102 is connected to a side (+Y side) opposite to theaccessory-side attachment portion 2103 in a longitudinal direction (Ydirection). The accessory-side attachment portion 2103 is a portion viawhich the wireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001 andincludes the accessory-side connection terminal 1124 and theaccessory-side fastening portion 2002.

Note that the accessory which can be attached to the accessoryattachment portion 2203 (see FIG. 5) is not limited to the wireless unit1004. For example, a recording device, a display device, a graspingmember, a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal receiver, an interfacefor relaying communication with another device, etc., may be attached.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GA-GA in FIG. 7,which mainly shows structures of the wireless unit 1004 and the mainduct 1403 in the apparatus body 1001. The accessory-side circuit board2101 is a circuit board on which circuit components for operating thewireless unit 1004 are mounted, and, for example, modulates ordemodulates wireless radio waves transmitted and received by the antennaportion 2102. The accessory-side circuit board 2101 generates heat inaccordance with the operation of the wireless unit 1004 (in accordancewith wireless communication).

The accessory-side connection terminal 1124 is held on the apparatusbody 1001 by a terminal holding member 2104 (see FIG. 17). Further, theaccessory-side connection terminal 1124 can receive electrical powersupplied from the apparatus body 1001 and communicate with the apparatusbody 1001 via the body-side connection terminal 1123 (see FIG. 5). Theaccessory-side fastening portion 2002 is a substantially ring-shapedmember, and is mechanically connected to a tightening knob 2002 a suchthat it can be rotated about an X axis using the tightening knob 2002 aand be moved within a predetermined range in an X axis direction. Anouter periphery of the accessory-side fastening portion 2002 is formedwith a male screw 2002 b and this male screw is screwed into thebody-side fastening portion 2001 (see FIGS. 5 and 17).

The wireless unit 1004 is a wireless communication module, and hencecommunication characteristics of the wireless radio waves vary with apositional relationship between the apparatus body 1001 and the wirelessunit 1004. To obtain good communication characteristics of the wirelessradio waves, it is effective that there is no shielding object whichreadily absorbs wireless radio waves, around the antenna portion 2102,and therefore, it is preferable that the wireless unit 1004 is disposedat a location as distant as possible from the apparatus body 1001. Inview of this, the positional relationship between the apparatus body1001 and the wireless unit 1004, for obtaining good communicationcharacteristics, will be described with reference to FIG. 17. Note thata method of attaching the wireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001will be described hereinafter.

The accessory attachment portion 2203 is disposed at a location close tothe top surface of the apparatus body 1001 (location close to anexterior end in the +Y direction). The accessory-side attachment portion2103 is disposed at a location close to the bottom surface of thewireless unit 1004 (location close to a lower end of the accessoryexterior 2201 in the −Y direction). Therefore, in a state in which thewireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001, the apparatusbody 1001 and an upper end of the wireless unit 1004 are located awayfrom each other across the accessory-side attachment portion 2103.Further, the antenna portion 2102 (see FIG. 16B) in the wireless unit1004 is provided such that it protrudes further toward the +Y side thanthe top surface (exterior end in the +Y direction) of the apparatus body1001. Therefore, the antenna portion 2102 protrudes relative to the leftside surface and the top surface of the apparatus body 1001, i.e.protrudes from the outside surface. With this, no shielding object thatreadily absorbs wireless radio waves exists not only in directionsindicated by arrows U61, U62, and U63, but also in a direction indicatedby an arrow U64, as viewed from the antenna portion 2102. This makes itpossible to obtain good communication characteristics when the wirelessunit 1004 performs wireless communication.

Further, the accessory attachment portion 2203 is provided at a locationclose to the top surface of the apparatus body 1001, and hence, evenwhen the air inlet port 1401 and the accessory attachment portion 2203are arranged side by side in the Y direction, it is possible to secure awide opening area of the air inlet port 1401. With this, it is possibleto reduce the size of the apparatus body 1001 in the optical axisdirection (Z direction) without reducing the heat dissipationperformance.

Here, the accessory attachment portion 2203 and the air inlet port 1401are arranged on substantially the same plane. Further, in the state inwhich the wireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001, alongitudinal direction (Y direction) of the wireless unit 1004 and alongitudinal direction of the air inlet port 1401 are substantiallyparallel to each other, and substantially orthogonal to the optical axisdirection. Further, in a state in which the wireless unit 1004 and thegrip unit 1002 are attached to the apparatus body 1001, a predeterminedspace is formed between the wireless unit 1004 and the grip unit 1002.

As mentioned above, since the wireless unit 1004 generates heat inaccordance with its operation, it is preferable that the wireless unit1004 is cooled. In view of this, a structure for effectively cooling thewireless unit 1004 will be described.

The cooling structure in the present embodiment has two main features.The first feature is that heat is transferred from the accessory-sideattachment portion 2103 of the wireless unit 1004 to the accessoryattachment portion 2203 of the apparatus body 1001, and transfer heat tothe main duct 1403 via the body-side fastening portion 2001. The secondfeature is that heat is dissipated by drawing air around the accessoryexterior 2201 from the air inlet port 1401.

First, the first feature of the cooling structure will be described. Asshown in FIG. 17, the accessory-side circuit board 2101 is connected tothe accessory exterior 2201 via an accessory-side heat transfer member2202. The accessory-side heat transfer member 2202 is formed of amaterial having high thermal conductivity, such as rubber. Further, theaccessory exterior 2201 is connected to the terminal holding member 2104surrounding the accessory-side connection terminal 1124. Also, theterminal holding member 2104 is connected to the accessory-sidefastening portion 2002.

With these connection structures, heat generated in the wireless unit1004 is sequentially transferred from the accessory-side circuit board2101 to the accessory-side heat transfer member 2202, the accessoryexterior 2201, the terminal holding member 2104, and the accessory-sidefastening portion 2002. Further, as described hereinabove, theaccessory-side fastening portion 2002 is screwed into the body-sidefastening portion 2001, and hence heat transfer from the accessory-sidefastening portion 2002 to the body-side fastening portion 2001 can beperformed. Thus, heat is transferred from the wireless unit 1004 to theapparatus body 1001.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are perspective views of the body-side fasteningportion 2001, as viewed from the outside and the inside of the apparatusbody 1001, respectively. The body-side fastening portion 2001 is formedof a metallic material having high thermal conductivity (such asaluminum and magnesium). The body-side connection terminal 1123 (seeFIG. 5) is inserted through a connection terminal insertion hole 2301,thereby being held by the body-side fastening portion 2001.

A fastening member female screw portion 2302 is provided outward of theconnection terminal insertion hole 2301. When the wireless unit 1004 isattached to the apparatus body 1001, the male screw 2002 b formed on theouter periphery of the accessory-side fastening portion 2002 (see FIG.16) is screwed into the fastening member female screw portion 2302.Since the fastening member female screw portion 2302 is formed outwardof the periphery of the connection terminal insertion hole 2301, it ispossible to secure a wide contact area between the fastening memberfemale screw portion 2302 and the accessory-side fastening portion 2002.This makes it possible to effectively transfer heat from theaccessory-side fastening portion 2002 to the fastening member femalescrew portion 2302.

The body-side fastening portion 2001 has a flat portion 2303. The flatportion 2303 is fastened to a flat portion, not shown, of the main duct1403 (see FIG. 17) with a screw, not shown, inserted through a screwhole 2304, whereby the body-side fastening portion 2001 is fixed to themain duct 1403. The flat portion 2303 is in contact with the main duct1403 (see FIG. 17) and transfers heat from the body-side fasteningportion 2001. Since the flat portions are brought into contact with eachother, it is possible to easily realize stable contact between the twosurfaces, compared with e.g. contact between curved surfaces. That is,by fastening the flat portion 2303 to the main duct 1403, the flatportion 2303 is brought into surface contact with the main duct 1403.With this, it is possible to effectively transfer heat from thebody-side fastening portion 2001 to the main duct 1403.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 17, the body-side fasteningportion 2001 is connected to the vicinity of the air inlet port 1401 ofthe main duct 1403. That is, the body-side fastening portion 2001 isconnected to the main duct 1403 at a location closer to the air inletport 1401 than the air outlet port 1402. Air passing through the mainduct 1403 is cool when passing an area close to the air inlet port 1401but is warmed as it passes through the main duct 1403. For this reason,by connecting the body-side fastening portion 2001 to the vicinity ofthe air inlet port 1401 of the main duct 1403, it is possible to obtaina higher heat dissipation effect.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in a state in which the body-side fasteningportion 2001 is fixed to the main duct 1403 with the screw inside theapparatus body 1001, heat is transferred from the body-side fasteningportion 2001 to the main duct 1403. The heat transferred to the mainduct 1403 is transferred to air passing through the main duct 1403 asmentioned above, and warmed air is discharged from the air outlet port1402 after passing through the fan 1110, thereby performing heatdissipation.

Thus, since the body-side fastening portion 2001 connected to thewireless unit 1004 is connected to the main duct 1403 inside theapparatus body 1001, it is possible to effectively cool the wirelessunit 1004. Note that it is preferable that the distance from theaccessory-side circuit board 2101 of the wireless unit 1004 to thecomponents connecting between the wireless unit 1004 and the main duct1403 of the apparatus body 1001 is short. If this distance is short, athermal transfer path from the wireless unit 1004 to the main duct 1403is reduced, which makes it possible to effectively transfer heat.

Next, the second feature of the cooling structure will be described.First, in the wireless unit 1004, heat generated in the accessory-sidecircuit board 2101 is transferred to the accessory exterior 2201. Theheat transferred to the accessory exterior 2201 is transferred to airsurrounding the accessory exterior 2201. As shown in FIG. 17, in thestate in which the wireless unit 1004 is attached, the accessoryexterior 2201 is adjacent to the −X side of the air inlet port 1401 ofthe apparatus body 1001. Therefore, as indicated by an arrow U65 in FIG.17, air around the accessory exterior 2201 is drawn into the air inletport 1401, and an air flow toward the air inlet port 1401 is alwaysgenerated around the accessory exterior 2201. Further, a direction ofattaching the wireless unit 1004 and a direction in which air drawn intothe air inlet port 1401 mainly flows are both the +X direction, and aresubstantially parallel to each other. With this, air around theaccessory exterior 2201 is always replaced by cool air, and hence it ispossible to effectively cool the wireless unit 1004.

Note that as shown in FIG. 7, the accessory attachment portion 2203 isdisposed such that the distance between the wireless unit 1004 and theair inlet port 1401 is shorter than the distance between the wirelessunit 1004 and the air outlet port 1402. That is, in the state in whichthe wireless unit 1004 is attached, the wireless unit 1004 is closer tothe air inlet port 1401 than the air outlet port 1402. With this, coolwind surrounding the accessory exterior 2201 is effectively drawn intothe air inlet port 1401, and on the other hand, it is possible toprevent warm wind discharged from the air outlet port 1402 from blowingagainst the accessory exterior 2201. Therefore, it is possible toenhance the cooling effect.

Further, let us consider a case where the image capturing system 1000having the wireless unit 1004 attached thereto is used near a wall orceiling, in other words, a case where a wall exists in the vicinity of a−X side exterior surface of the image capturing system 1000 or a casewhere a ceiling exists in the vicinity of a +Y side exterior surface ofthe same. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 17, since the wirelessunit 1004 is disposed to extend farther outward of the exterior surfaceof the apparatus body 1001, spaces are necessarily generated between theleft side surface (the −X side exterior surface) of the apparatus body1001 and the wall, and between the top surface (the +Y side exteriorsurface) and the ceiling. This prevents the air inlet port 1401 and theair outlet port 1402 from being blocked by the wall or ceiling. Further,an air flow passage is formed through which air smoothly flows from thespace above the top surface of the apparatus body 1001 toward the airinlet port 1401. Therefore, air is not blocked from being drawn into anddischarged from the apparatus body 1001. With this, even in a case wherethe wireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001 and theamount of heat generated by the image capturing system 1000 as a wholeincreases, it is possible to effectively cool the wireless unit 1004 andthe apparatus body 1001.

Thus, the body-side fastening portion 2001 is connected to the main duct1403 and also the air inlet port 1401 is arranged to draw air around theaccessory exterior 2201. With this configuration, it is possible toefficiently transfer heat generated in the wireless unit 1004 to themain duct 1403 to perform heat dissipation. This cooling structure isparticularly suitable for cooling an accessory that is compact andgenerates a large amount of heat, such as the wireless unit 1004. Notethat the body-side fastening portion 2001 is exposed to the outside in astate in which the wireless unit 1004 is not attached. Therefore, it ispossible to easily connect the wireless unit 1004 to the duct with asimple attachment operation. On the other hand, when the wireless unit1004 is attached, the body-side fastening portion 2001 is not exposed tothe outside, which prevents degradation of the appearance quality.

Incidentally, to prevent noise of the fan 1110 from being recorded, theimage capturing system 1000 has a control mode in which the fan 1110 isrotated when recoding is not performed and is stopped when recording isperformed. When the fan 1110 is stopped, heat generated in the mainprocessing circuit board 1105 and the wireless unit 1004 is absorbed bythe heat capacity of the main duct 1403. However, the amount of heatgenerated in the wireless unit 1004 is small, compared with the mainprocessing circuit board 1105. Therefore, if the wireless unit 1004 istoo close to the main duct 1403, heat generated in the main processingcircuit board 1105 is transferred to the wireless unit 1004 via the mainduct 1403, and warms the wireless unit 1004.

That is, if the fan 1110 is rotated, heat is transferred from thewireless unit 1004 to the main duct 1403, but if the fan 1110 isstopped, heat is transferred in the opposite direction. To prevent this,as shown in FIG. 17, the wireless unit 1004 is arranged slightly awayfrom the main duct 1403. That is, the distance between the wireless unit1004 and the main duct 1403 (see FIG. 17) is made larger than thedistance between the main processing circuit board 1105 and the mainduct 1403 (see FIG. 9), whereby the transferability of heat to thewireless unit 1004 is slightly reduced. This makes it possible tosuppress the opposite flow of heat when the fan is stopped.

In other words, the components related to the cooling structure arearranged with the following positional relationship: First, the mainheat sources are the main processing circuit board 1105 (first heatsource) provided in the apparatus body 1001 and the accessory-sidecircuit board 2101 (second heat source) provided in the wireless unit1004. In the state in which the wireless unit 1004 is attached to theapparatus body 1001, the accessory-side circuit board 2101 is moredistant from the main duct 1403 than the main processing circuit board1105 is.

Incidentally, the main duct 1403 is an electrically conductive memberhaving the largest volume in the apparatus body 1001 and also functionsas a member at a reference potential (so-called ground potential) in theimage capturing system 1000. Since the body-side fastening portion 2001is connected to the main duct 1403, it is possible to stabilize thereference potential of the body-side fastening portion 2001 and thewireless unit 1004. This makes it possible to release externalelectrical noise, such as wireless radio waves received by the wirelessunit 1004, to the main duct 1403, and thereby stably operate thewireless unit 1004.

Further, since the main processing circuit board 1105 is in contact withthe main duct 1403, the main processing circuit board 1105 and thebody-side fastening portion 2001 are arranged close to each other. Thismakes it possible to reduce the wiring length between the mainprocessing circuit board 1105 and the body-side connection terminal1123, and thereby make the wiring difficult to be influenced by externalelectrical noise, such as wireless radio waves, during electricalcommunication.

Next, a structure for preventing breakage of the body-side connectionterminal 1123 will be described with reference to FIGS. 19, and 20A to20C. FIG. 19 is a partial perspective view of the apparatus body 1001 ina state in which the wireless unit 1004 is attached thereto. FIGS. 20Ato 20C are perspective views of the accessory attachment portion 2203and its surroundings.

As shown in FIG. 20A, a protection cover 2401 as a cover member isprovided on the accessory attachment portion 2203 such that it can beopened and closed and be attached to and removed from the accessoryattachment portion 2203. The protection cover 2401 is in an open statein FIG. 20A, in a closed state in FIG. 20B, and in a removed state inFIG. 20C.

The wireless unit 1004 attached to the apparatus body 1001 is requiredto have good antenna characteristics. As shown in FIG. 19, in the statein which the wireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001,the wireless unit 1004 protrudes upward from the top surface of theapparatus body 1001. Since the wireless unit 1004 protrudes, there arefew shielding objects around the wireless unit 1004. Therefore, thewireless unit 1004 can maintain a state in which it has good antennacharacteristics.

However, if a force of rotating the wireless unit 1004 in a direction J(or in a direction opposite to the direction J) indicated in FIG. 19 isapplied to an protruding tip end of the wireless unit 1004, a largerotational force is applied to the body-side connection terminal 1123(see FIG. 20C) located in the vicinity of the root of the wireless unit1004. If the applied force is too large, that the body-side connectionterminal 1123 can be broken. Therefore, to prevent rotationaldisplacement of the tip end of the wireless unit 1004, a rotationprevention member 2402 (see FIGS. 19, 24A, and 24B) is attached to theapparatus body 1001.

As shown in FIG. 20A, the accessory attachment portion 2203 where thewireless unit 1004 is attached is arranged in an upper portion of theleft side of the apparatus body 1001. Further, a rotation preventionmember attachment portion 2403 to which the rotation prevention member2402 is attached is arranged adjacent to the accessory attachmentportion 2203. The rotation prevention member attachment portion 2403 isarranged such that it forms a substantially right angle with the leftside surface of the accessory attachment portion 2203.

The rotation prevention member attachment portion 2403 has a positioninghole 2601 formed therein as a circular non-through hole so as toposition the rotation prevention member 2402 with respect to theapparatus body 1001 when fixing the rotation prevention member 2402.Further, the rotation prevention member attachment portion 2403 has arotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404 formed therein as afixing portion to which the rotation prevention member 2402 is fixed.Inside the rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404, a femalescrew portion 2405 is formed, and the rotation prevention member 2402can be firmly fixed to the rotation prevention member attachment portion2403 by screwing.

The body-side connection terminal 1123 appearing in FIG. 20A, which isarranged on the accessory attachment portion 2203, is an electricalconnection portion for electrically connecting the wireless unit 1004thereto. Further, the accessory attachment portion 2203 has a protectioncover insertion hole 2406 formed therein for attaching the protectioncover 2401 thereto. In a state in which the wireless unit 1004 is notattached to the apparatus body 1001, it is possible to close theprotection cover 2401 to cover the accessory attachment portion 2203,and thereby protect the body-side connection terminal 1123 (see FIG.20B).

In a state in which the protection cover 2401 is open, the apparatusbody 1001 and the protection cover 2401 are connected by a protectioncover hinge portion 2407 via the protection cover insertion hole 2406.The protection cover insertion hole 2406 is a connection portion towhich the protection cover 2401 is connected. The protection cover 2401and the protection cover hinge portion 2407 are integrally formed of amember having elasticity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20A, theprotection cover hinge portion 2407 can be freely bent. The protectioncover 2401 and the protection cover hinge portion 2407 are molded ofe.g. elastomer.

When a force is applied to the protection cover 2401 in a directionperpendicular to the accessory attachment portion 2203 (−X direction)from the state in which the protection cover 2401 is closed, theprotection cover hinge portion 2407 can be removed from the protectioncover insertion hole 2406 (see FIG. 20C). As shown in FIG. 20C, a tipend of the protection cover hinge portion 2407 is provided with aprotection cover hinge engagement portion 2408. The protection coverhinge portion 2407 has a substantially circular cross-section, and theprotection cover hinge engagement portion 2408 is formed such that itprotrudes from the substantially circular shape. Therefore, theprotection cover hinge engagement portion 2408 is engaged in theprotection cover insertion hole 2406 in the state shown in FIG. 20A, andthe protection cover hinge portion 2407 is prevented from being removedfrom the protection cover insertion hole 2406. However, the protectioncover hinge engagement portion 2408 also has elasticity, and hence theprotection cover hinge engagement portion 2408 is deformed by applying apredetermined force or larger, whereby the protection cover 2401 can beremoved from the protection cover insertion hole 2406. Further, when theuser applies a force to the protection cover 2401 from the state shownin FIG. 20C so as to cause the protection cover hinge engagement portion2408 to be pushed into the protection cover insertion hole 2406, theprotection cover hinge engagement portion 2408 is deformed and can bepushed into the protection cover insertion hole 2406. This cause theprotection cover 2401 to return to the state shown in FIG. 20A. Thus, byattaching the rotation prevention member 2402 and the protection cover2401, it is possible to prevent breakage of the body-side connectionterminal 1123.

The apparatus body 1001 is required to be compact in size. To realizethis, it is desirable that an area of a projected shadow of theaccessory attachment portion 2203, in other words, an area of thesurface of the accessory attachment portion 2203 in the upper portion ofthe left side of the apparatus body 1001 is also small. Next, sizereduction of the accessory attachment portion 2203 will be described.

FIGS. 21A to 21C are perspective views of the body-side fasteningportion 2001 and the body-side connection terminal 1123. Particularly,FIGS. 21A, 21B, and 21C show the body-side fastening portion 2001 andthe body-side connection terminal 1123, as viewed from the front left,the front right, and the rear right, respectively. FIG. 22 is anenlarged view of the body-side connection terminal 1123 and itssurroundings of the apparatus body 1001. FIG. 23A is a top view of thebody-side connection terminal 1123 and its surroundings. FIG. 23B is across-sectional view taken along line K-K in FIG. 23A.

First, the configuration of the body-side connection terminal 1123 willbe described. As shown in FIG. 21B, the body-side connection terminal1123 is mounted on a body-side connection terminal board 2501. Thebody-side connection terminal board 2501 is connected to the mainprocessing circuit board 1105 (see FIG. 9) by body-side connectionterminal wires 2502. The connection by the body-side connection terminalwires 2502 enables electrical signals to be sent from the mainprocessing circuit board 1105 to the body-side connection terminal 1123.The body-side connection terminal board 2501 on which the body-sideconnection terminal 1123 is mounted is screwed and fixed to thebody-side fastening portion 2001. The accessory-side fastening portion2002 (see FIG. 16A) is screwed into the fastening member female screwportion 2302 (see FIG. 21A), whereby the apparatus body 1001 and thewireless unit 1004 are firmly fixed to each other.

Next, a positional relationship between the body-side connectionterminal 1123, the positioning hole 2601, and the rotation preventionmember-fastening hole 2404, appearing in FIGS. 20A to 20C, and 23A and23B, will be described. First, the body-side connection terminal 1123 isprovided in the left side surface (first surface) which is a −X sidesurface of the apparatus body 1001 (see FIG. 22). On the other hand, thepositioning hole 2601 is arranged in the top surface (second surface)which is a +Y side surface of the apparatus body 1001 and is adjacent tothe left side surface of the apparatus body 1001 such that is forms asubstantially right angle therewith (see FIG. 23A). As shown in FIG.23B, the positioning hole 2601 is formed at a location where it overlapsa projected shadow of the body-side connection terminal 1123 which is anelectrical connection portion, as viewed from the +Y side. Thepositioning hole 2601 is a positioning portion for positioning therotation prevention member 2402 (see FIG. 24A) with respect to therotation prevention member attachment portion 2403. Therefore, thelength of the hole of the positioning hole 2601 in the axial directionmay be short. Therefore, even when the positioning hole 2601 is arrangedat a location upward of the body-side connection terminal 1123 where itoverlaps the projected shadow of the body-side connection terminal 1123,the area of the projected shadow of the accessory attachment portion2203 does not become too large.

On the other hand, the rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404 isa portion where the rotation prevention member 2402 is firmly fixed byscrewing. In other words, the rotation prevention member 2402 is asupport for holding the wireless unit 1004 and preventing rotationaldisplacement of the tip end of the wireless unit 1004, and the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404 is a fixing portion to which thissupport is fixed. Therefore, when screwing and fixing the rotationprevention member 2402, the female screw portion 2405 of the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404 is required to resist thefastening force. To this end, it is necessary to make the female screwportion 2405 longer in the axial direction to thereby increase the screwengagement allowance. To secure a space for this, the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404 and the female screw portion 2405are arranged at respective locations upward of the body-side connectionterminal 1123 whereby the do not overlap the projected shadow of thebody-side connection terminal 1123. In other words, the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404 is formed at a location where itdoes not overlap the projected shadow of the body-side connectionterminal 1123 which is an electrical connection portion, as view fromthe +Y side.

As shown in FIGS. 22, 23A, and 23B, the protection cover insertion hole2406 is located on an opposite side of the body-side connection terminal1123 to the rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404. That is, theprotection cover insertion hole 2406 is provided on the side opposite tothe rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404, which is the fixingportion, with the body-side connection terminal 1123, which is theelectrical connection portion, provided therebetween. Particularly,since the body-side fastening portion 2001 is formed with the fasteningmember female screw portion 2302, which has a circular shape, theprotection cover insertion hole 2406 is formed obliquely upward (+Z sideand +Y side) with respect to the body-side connection terminal 1123.With this arrangement, it is possible to make the area of the projectedshadow of the accessory attachment portion 2203 small.

Since the protection cover hinge portion 2407 is formed by a membermolded of e.g. elastomer, there is a possibility that the protectioncover hinge portion 2407 is inserted in the protection cover insertionhole 2406 in a bent state. To prevent the protection cover hinge portion2407 from interfering with the internal structure even when inserted inthe bent state, it is necessary to provide space inward of theprotection cover insertion hole 2406 as shown in FIG. 23B. For thisreason, the protection cover insertion hole 2406 is arranged on theopposite side of the body-side connection terminal 1123 to the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404. This makes it possible to avoidinterference between the internal structure and the protection coverhinge portion 2407 with a margin.

As described above, it is possible to make the area of the projectedshadow of the accessory attachment portion 2203 small in the apparatusbody 1001. By making the area of the projected shadow of the accessoryattachment portion 2203 small, it is possible to secure a wide area forthe air inlet port 1401, which contributes to improvement of coolingperformance.

FIGS. 24A and 24B are a perspective view and an exploded perspectiveview of the rotation prevention member 2402, respectively. FIGS. 24C and24D are schematic cross-sectional views of a manual fastening screw 2702and its surroundings.

The rotation prevention member 2402 is comprised of a protrusion holdingmember 2701, the manual fastening screw 2702, and a retaining member2703. The protrusion holding member 2701 has a positioning pin 2704, aprotrusion holding hole 2705, and a rotation stopper hole 2706(insertion hole). Particularly, the positioning pin 2704 and therotation stopper hole 2706 are provided on a base (plate-shaped portionparallel to an X-Z plane) of the protrusion holding member 2701. Therotation stopper hole 2706 is e.g. a hole (slotted hole) having asubstantially elliptical shape and a longitudinal direction of thesubstantially elliptical shape is substantially parallel to a lineconnecting between the center of the rotation stopper hole 2706 and thecenter of the positioning pin 2704.

The rotation stopper hole 2706 is a portion in which a large diameterportion 2707, described hereinafter, of the manual fastening screw 2702is fitted. The positioning pin 2704 is a cylindrical protruding portionprotruding from the base of the protrusion holding member 2701 in the −Ydirection. The positioning pin 2704 has a diameter slightly smaller thanthe diameter of the positioning hole 2601 of the apparatus body 1001 andcan be fitted in the positioning hole 2601 (see FIG. 23A) withoutlooseness.

The manual fastening screw 2702 has a tip end male screw portion 2708, asmall diameter portion 2709, a tapered portion 2710, and the largediameter portion 2707, continuously formed from the tip end side in thementioned order (see FIG. 24C). In a shaft portion on a tip end side ofthe tapered portion 2710, the small diameter portion 2709 is a thinshaft portion which is smaller in diameter than the large diameterportion 2707. The tip end male screw portion 2708 is screwed into thefemale screw portion 2405 (see FIG. 23A) of the rotation preventionmember-fastening hole 2404. The diameters of the tip end male screwportion 2708, the small diameter portion 2709, and the tapered portion2710 are smaller than the diameter (width of the slotted hole) of therotation stopper hole 2706 of the protrusion holding member 2701.Further, the large diameter portion 2707 has a diameter equal to orslightly larger than the diameter (width of the slotted hole) of therotation stopper hole 2706, and can be fitted in the rotation stopperhole 2706 without looseness. Note that the small diameter portion 2709and the large diameter portion 2707 are smoothly continuous with eachother via the tapered portion 2710. That is, the small diameter portion2709 and the large diameter portion 2707 are connected by the taperedportion 2710 having a smoothly changing shaft diameter. The retainingmember 2703 is e.g. an E ring, and can be fitted on the small diameterportion 2709 of the manual fastening screw 2702.

To assemble the rotation prevention member 2402, as shown in FIG. 24B,an operator inserts the manual fastening screw 2702 in a directionindicated by an arrow U91, and then moves the retaining member 2703 in adirection indicated by an arrow U92 to fit the retaining member 2703 onthe small diameter portion 2709, thus placing the rotation preventionmember 2402 in an assembled state. By attaching the retaining member2703, it is possible to prevent the manual fastening screw 2702 fromdropping off from the protrusion holding member 2701.

The tip end male screw portion 2708 of the manual fastening screw 2702is screwed through the rotation stopper hole 2706 into the female screwportion 2405 of the rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404 ofthe rotation prevention member attachment portion 2403 of the apparatusbody 1001, and the large diameter portion 2707 is fitted in the rotationstopper hole 2706, whereby the protrusion holding member 2701 isfastened to the apparatus body 1001. That is, the manual fastening screw2702 is a fastening member for fastening the protrusion holding member2701 to the apparatus body 1001. Further, the protrusion holding member2701 holds the rotation stopper protrusion 2801 of the wireless unit1004 via the protrusion holding hole 2705 having an elliptical shape.With this, it is possible to fix the wireless unit 1004 withoutlooseness by a simple operation such that it is prevented from beunintentionally rotated.

Incidentally, when the rotation prevention member 2402 is attached tothe apparatus body 1001, the shaft portion of the manual fastening screw2702 functions as a rotation stopper such that the rotation preventionmember 2402 is prevented from becoming loose. A structure for preventinglooseness when the rotation prevention member 2402 is attached to theapparatus body 1001 will be described with reference to FIGS. 25A to25D.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are schematic cross-sectional views of the manualfastening screw 2702 and its surroundings. FIGS. 25C and 25D are viewsof the rotation prevention member 2402, as viewed from the +Y side. Notethat FIGS. 25A and 25B are cross-sectional views taken along line GC-GCin FIG. 25C, and line GD-GD in FIG. 25D, respectively. Particularly,FIGS. 25A and 25C show a state in which the center of the manualfastening screw 2702 and the center of the rotation stopper hole 2706 ofthe protrusion holding member 2701 are displaced from each other.Further, FIGS. 25B and 25D show a state in which the center of themanual fastening screw 2702 and the center of the rotation stopper hole2706 are aligned.

In the state shown in FIGS. 25A and 25C, the protrusion holding member2701 is rotationally displaced about the positioning pin 2704 in adirection indicated by an arrow U112 relative to the manual fasteningscrew 2702, and the centers of the rotation stopper hole 2706 and themanual fastening screw 2702 are displaced from each other. Further, thecenter of the retaining member 2703 is also displaced from the center ofthe rotation stopper hole 2706. When the manual fastening screw 2702 isscrewed from this state, the manual fastening screw 2702 is moved in the−Y direction and the tapered portion 2710 is soon brought into contactwith the rotation stopper hole 2706. Then, as the manual fastening screw2702 is further screwed, the rotation stopper hole 2706 is guided byengagement between the tapered portion 2710 and the rotation stopperhole 2706. As a result, the protrusion holding member 2701 isrotationally displaced about the positioning pin 2704 in a directionindicated by an arrow U113 relative to the manual fastening screw 2702(see FIG. 25D). At this time, the rotation stopper hole 2706 moves itsposition in a manner sliding along the tapered portion 2710. Therefore,as the tip end male screw portion 2708 is screwed into the female screwportion 2405, the centers of the rotation stopper hole 2706 and themanual fastening screw 2702 are eventually aligned. Therefore, the largediameter portion 2707 is fitted in the rotation stopper hole 2706 in astate in which the center of the manual fastening screw 2702 coincideswith the center of the rotation stopper hole 2706.

Here, since the rotation stopper hole 2706 has the elliptical shape, andthe width of the elliptical shape is equal to or slightly smaller thanthe diameter of the large diameter portion 2707, the manual fasteningscrew 2702 can function as the rotation stopper of the protrusionholding member 2701 about the positioning pin 2704. This makes itpossible to fit the protrusion holding member 2701 and the manualfastening screw 2702 to each other without looseness. After that, whenthe manual fastening screw 2702 is further screwed, the tip end malescrew portion 2708 of the manual fastening screw 2702 is firmly screwedinto the female screw portion 2405 of the apparatus body 1001, wherebythe protrusion holding member 2701 is fixed.

Thus, the action of the tapered portion 2710 makes it possible to avoidthe manual fastening screw 2702 from being fastened in a state in whichthe centers of the rotation stopper hole 2706 and the manual fasteningscrew 2702 are displaced from each other. Therefore, for example, themanual fastening screw 2702 is prevented from being fastened in a statein which the protrusion holding member 2701 slides onto the retainingmember 2703.

Further, since the large diameter portion 2707 of the manual fasteningscrew 2702 is fitted in the rotation stopper hole 2706 of the protrusionholding member 2701 without looseness, it is possible to attach therotation prevention member 2402 to the apparatus body 1001 withoutlooseness. This makes it possible to cause the manual fastening screw2702 to also function as a rotation stopper of the protrusion holdingmember 2701 on an X-Z plane. Therefore, the protrusion holding member2701 is prevented from being loosened without additionally providing arotation stopper pin on the X-Z plane, and hence it is possible toreduce the number of components and cost.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 24C, the protrusion holding member 2701is formed with a recessed portion 2711 around the rotation stopper hole2706 on a side opposed to the apparatus body 1001. When the tip end malescrew portion 2708 of the manual fastening screw 2702 is screwed intothe female screw portion 2405 of the apparatus body 1001, the retainingmember 2703 is received into the recessed portion 2711. This makes theapparatus body 1001 compact in size in the Z direction.

As mentioned above, in a case where a rotational force isunintentionally applied to the accessory-side connection terminal 1124(see FIGS. 16A and 16B), it is necessary to avoid breakage of theaccessory-side connection terminal 1124 and the body-side connectionterminal 1123. This is particularly important when the user attaches thewireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001. For this reason, when theuser attaches the wireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001, it isdesirable that the user attaches the wireless unit 1004 in a state inwhich the rotation prevention member 2402 has been attached to theapparatus body 1001 in advance. A mechanism contrived, in view of this,for causing a user to attach the rotation prevention member 2402 and thewireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001 in a correct procedurewill be described with reference to FIGS. 26A to 26C.

FIGS. 26A to 26C are transition views showing a process for attachingthe rotation prevention member 2402 and the wireless unit 1004 to theapparatus body 1001.

In a case where an attachment operation is performed according to thecorrect procedure, first, the user attaches the rotation preventionmember 2402 to the apparatus body 1001. More specifically, the user fitsthe positioning pin 2704 (see FIG. 24A) of the protrusion holding member2701 of the rotation prevention member 2402 in the positioning hole 2601of the apparatus body 1001 in a direction indicated by an arrow U101(from the +Y side) in FIG. 26A. Then, the user rotates the manualfastening screw 2702 to screw the tip end male screw portion 2708 intothe rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404 of the apparatus body1001 (see FIG. 24D). As a result, as shown in FIG. 26B, the rotationprevention member 2402 has been attached to the apparatus body 1001, butthe wireless unit 1004 has not been attached yet.

Next, the user attaches the wireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body1001. More specifically, the user brings the wireless unit 1004 intoabutment with the accessory attachment portion 2203 in a directionindicated by an arrow U102 in FIG. 26B (from the −X side) and causes theaccessory-side fastening portion 2002 (see FIG. 16A) to rotate in thedirection J (see FIG. 19) using the tightening knob 200 a. This causesthe accessory-side fastening portion 2002 to be screwed into thefastening member female screw portion 2302 (see FIG. 21A) of thebody-side fastening portion 2001. Concurrently, the rotation stopperprotrusion 2801 (see FIG. 16A) of the wireless unit 1004 is fitted intothe protrusion holding hole 2705 (see FIG. 24A) of the rotationprevention member 2402, whereby the rotation stopper protrusion 2801 isrestricted from moving in the Z direction. With this, as shown in FIG.26C, the rotation prevention member 2402 and the wireless unit 1004 areplaced in a state properly attached to the apparatus body 1001.

On the other hand, if the rotation prevention member 2402 and thewireless unit 1004 are attached in a wrong procedure, the followingproblem is caused: First, let it be assumed that the user moves thewireless unit 1004 in a direction indicated by an arrow U101 a in FIG.26A, and attaches the wireless unit 1004 first without attaching therotation prevention member 2402. The protrusion holding hole 2705 of theprotrusion holding member 2701 has a closed elliptical shape. Therefore,if the wireless unit 1004 is attached to the apparatus body 1001 first,even when the user attempts to attach the rotation prevention member2402 after that, the rotation stopper protrusion 2801 interferes withthe protrusion holding member 2701 of the rotation prevention member2402. Therefore, the rotation prevention member 2402 cannot be attachedto the apparatus body 1001. In short, in the state in which the wirelessunit 1004 has been attached to the apparatus body 1001 first, therotation prevention member 2402 is interfered with the rotation stopperprotrusion 2801 and cannot be fastened to the apparatus body 1001.

Assuming that the user attempts to attach the wireless unit 1004 to theapparatus body 1001 in a state in which the rotation prevention member2402 is not attached, the user can then notice that the rotationprevention member 2402 cannot be attached to the apparatus body 1001.This provides an effect of prompting the user to attach the rotationprevention member 2402 to the apparatus body 1001 in advance whenattaching the wireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001.

The rotation prevention member 2402 holds the upper part of the wirelessunit 1004, as described above, when a rotational force is applied to theaccessory exterior 2201, it is possible to prevent the wireless unit1004 from being rotated to break the accessory-side connection terminal1124. For example, when a finger or another object touches the accessoryexterior 2201 or the accessory-side fastening portion 2002 is rotated inorder to attach the wireless unit 1004 to the apparatus body 1001, it ispossible to prevent the wireless unit 1004 from being unintentionallyrotated.

Next, the arrangement of an angular speed sensor, an accelerationsensor, and a geomagnetic sensor, for making vibrations and magneticnoise generated in the apparatus body 1001 difficult to propagate willbe described. For clear indication of vibration sources and magneticnoise sources, the configuration of each cover unit will be describedagain.

FIGS. 27 and 28 are exploded perspective views of the apparatus body1001. A main unit 2902 is disposed in the center of the apparatus body1001. In the main unit 2902, the main processing circuit board 1105 onwhich the above-described CPU 1102, ROM 1103, and RAM 1104 are mountedis arranged. Further, in the main unit 2902, a power supply circuitboard 2916 having the above-described power supply controller 1116 andan audio circuit board 2901 that performs audio processing are arranged.The main processing circuit board 1105 and the power supply circuitboard 2916 are cooled by being fastened to the main duct 1403 throughwhich wind generated by the fan 1110 flows.

A front unit 2904 is arranged on the +Z side of the main unit 2902. Inthe front unit 2904, not only the lens mount 1201 and the image sensor1101, but also an ND unit 2903 capable of adjusting brightness of a shotimage, etc., are arranged. On the +X side of the main unit 2902, a rightcover unit 2905 having the body operation button group 1114, theaccommodating cover 1203, etc., is arranged. On the −X side of the mainunit 2902, a left cover unit 2906 having the speaker 1115, etc., isarranged. On the +Y side of the main unit 2902, a top cover unit 2907 isarranged, and on the −Y side of the same, a bottom cover unit 2908 isarranged. On the −Z side of the main unit 2902, a rear cover unit 2909having the above-described battery receiving section 1301, theabove-described input/output terminal group 1302, etc., is arranged.

A detection circuit board 2917 is fastened to a sheet metal 2911 of therear cover unit 2909 with screws. On the detection circuit board 2917, asensor 2910 used for camera shake correction and self-positionestimation is mounted. This detection circuit board 2917 is arranged onthe +X side of the optical axis, denoted by reference numeral 2912.Further, the detection circuit board 2917 is arranged in substantiallyparallel to the image sensor 1101 and the main processing circuit board1105. The sensor 2910 is a detection element which is of one of theangular speed sensor, the acceleration sensor, and the geomagneticsensor.

FIG. 29 is a front view of the rear cover unit 2909. The detectioncircuit board 2917 is fastened to the sheet metal 2911 of the rear coverunit 2909 at three locations with a screw 2915 a, a screw 2915 b, and ascrew 2915 c. Note that the detection circuit board 2917 may be fastenedat more than three locations.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view of the main unit 2902 and the rear coverunit 2909. Electrical connection between the detection circuit board2917 and the main processing circuit board 1105 will be described withreference to FIG. 30. The detection circuit board 2917 is connected tothe audio circuit board 2901 by wires 2913. The audio circuit board 2901is connected to the main processing circuit board 1105 by a flexiblecircuit board 2914. Although not shown, the detection circuit board 2917may be connected to the main processing circuit board 1105 directly bythe wires 2913.

The detection circuit board 2917 is fixed to the rear cover unit 2909 asan exterior unit located on an opposite side of the fan 1110 to thefront unit 2904 in which the image sensor 1101 is arranged. Since thedetection circuit board 2917 is arranged in the rear cover unit 2909,driving vibrations of the fan 1110 arranged in the main unit 2902 aredifficult to be transferred to the detection circuit board 2917.Further, lens vibrations generated from the lens mount 1201 andvibrations generated from the ND unit 2903, which are arranged in thefront unit 2904, are difficult to be transferred to the detectioncircuit board 2917. Further, operating vibrations of the body operationbutton group 1114 and opening/closing vibrations of the accommodatingcover 1203, which are arranged in the right cover unit 2905, aredifficult to be transferred to the detection circuit board 2917.Further, vibrations via an external cable, not shown, which extendsthrough the left cover unit 2906 and is connected to the input/outputterminal group 1302, are difficult to be transferred to the detectioncircuit board 2917.

Further, since the detection circuit board 2917 is fastened to the rearcover unit 2909 at the three or more locations with the screws,vibrations generated in the apparatus body 1001 are more difficult to betransferred to the detection circuit board 2917 than a case where thedetection circuit board 2917 is fastened at one or two locations.Further, since signals output from the detection circuit board 2917 aretransferred to another circuit board by the wires 2913, vibrationsgenerated in the apparatus body 1001 are more difficult to betransferred to the detection circuit board 2917 than a case where thesignals are transferred to the other circuit board by a flexible circuitboard which is light in mass and low in elasticity.

For the reasons described above, in a case where the sensor 2910 is anangular velocity sensor, such as a gyro sensor, various vibrationsgenerated in the apparatus body 1001 are difficult to be transferred tothe angular velocity sensor, and hence it is possible to detect a shakewith high accuracy. Further, in a case where the sensor 2910 mounted onthe detection circuit board 2917 is an acceleration sensor forestimating the self-position of the apparatus body 1001, variousvibrations generated in the apparatus body 1001 are difficult to betransferred to the acceleration sensor for the same reasons. Therefore,it is possible to estimate the self-position with high accuracy.

Further, by arranging the detection circuit board 2917 in theabove-described location, magnetic noise generated by driving the fan1110 arranged in the main unit 2902 is difficult to be transferred tothe detection circuit board 2917 arranged in the rear cover unit 2909.Further, magnetic noise generated from the main processing circuit board1105, an inductor and the DC-DC converter of the power supply controller1116, etc. which are arranged in the main unit 2902 is difficult to betransferred to the detection circuit board 2917. Further, magnetic noisegenerated from the speaker 1115 arranged in the left cover unit 2906 isdifficult to be to the detection circuit board 2917.

For the reasons described above, in a case where the sensor 2910 mountedon the detection circuit board 2917 is a geomagnetic sensor fordetecting the self-posture, magnetic noise generated in the apparatusbody 1001 is difficult to be transferred to the geomagnetic sensor.Therefore, it is possible to estimate the self-posture with highaccuracy.

According to the present embodiment, the microphone 1106 is arranged ona right side surface different from any of the surface in which the airoutlet port 1402 is arranged, the surface on which the lens mount 1201is arranged, and the surface on which the accessory attachment portion2203 is arranged (see FIG. 11). Further, the microphone 1106 is arrangedat a location closer to the top surface (upper surface) of the apparatusbody 1001 than the bottom surface of the apparatus body 1001 (see FIG.11). This makes it possible to easily collect the voice of a shooterwhile reducing the influence of mechanical noise and electrical noise.

Further, the tip end male screw portion 2708 of the manual fasteningscrew 2702 is screwed into the rotation prevention member-fastening hole2404 through the rotation stopper hole 2706 and the large diameterportion 2707 is fitted in the rotation stopper hole 2706. With this, theprotrusion holding member 2701 is fastened to the apparatus body 1001(see FIG. 24D). Further, the protrusion holding member 2701 holds therotation stopper protrusion 2801 of the wireless unit 1004 in theprotrusion holding hole 2705. With these, it is possible to fix thewireless unit 1004 without looseness by a simple operation such that thewireless unit 1004 is not unintentionally rotated.

Further, on the upper surface of the apparatus body 1001, thepositioning hole 2601 is formed at a location overlapping the projectedshadow of the body-side connection terminal 1123 which is the electricalconnection portion, as viewed from the +Y side (see FIG. 23B). Further,the rotation prevention member-fastening hole 2404 is formed at alocation not overlapping the projected shadow of the body-sideconnection terminal 1123, as viewed from the +Y side (see FIG. 23B).Further, the protection cover insertion hole 2406 is arranged on anopposite side of the body-side connection terminal 1123 to the rotationprevention member-fastening hole 2404 (see FIGS. 22, 23A, and 23B). Withthese, it is possible to prevent unintentional rotation of the wirelessunit 1004 while ensuring size reduction of part of the apparatus body1001 where the wireless unit 1004 is attached.

Further, the clearance L1 between the speaker holes 1404 and the gripunit 1002 is secured in the X direction (see FIG. 15). This makes itpossible to ensure sound emission from the speaker holes 1404 even whenthe user holds the apparatus body 1001.

Further, the detection circuit board 2917 on which the sensor 2910(detection element) is mounted is fixed to the rear cover unit 2909 onthe opposite side of the fan 1110 to the image sensor 1101 (see FIGS. 28and 29). This makes it possible to suppress the influence of vibrationsof the fan 1110 on the sensor 2910 and thereby improve the detectionaccuracy.

Further, the body-side fastening portion 2001 for fastening the wirelessunit 1004, which has thermal conductivity, is arranged adjacent to theair inlet port 1401 and is connected to the main duct 1403 (see FIG.17). Particularly, the flat portion 2303 is fixed to the main duct 1403.This makes it possible to effectively cool the wireless unit 1004.

Note that in the present embodiment, the term “substantially” is addedto an expression with no intention of excluding “complete”. For example,“substantially parallel”, “substantially perpendicular”, “substantiallyorthogonal”, “substantially the same”, and “substantially ellipticalshape” include, in their meanings, “completely parallel”, “completelyperpendicular”, “completely orthogonal”, “completely the same”, and“completely elliptical shape”, respectively.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2019-150319 filed Aug. 20, 2019, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image capturing apparatus having a forced aircooling function and capable of having an accessory attached thereto,comprising: an image capturing apparatus body including an image sensor;a lens mount which is provided on the image capturing apparatus body andto which a shooting lens can be removably attached; an attachmentportion which is provided on the image capturing apparatus body and towhich the accessory can be removably attached; and a built-in microphonewhich is arranged on a side of a surface of the image capturingapparatus body, different from any of a surface where an air outlet portfor discharging air used for forced cooling is arranged, a surface wherethe lens mount is arranged, and a surface where the attachment portionis arranged, wherein the built-in microphone is arranged at a locationcloser to a top surface of the image capturing apparatus body than abottom surface thereof.
 2. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the accessory includes a wireless unit which enableswireless connection to an external device, and wherein the built-inmicrophone is arranged on a side of the image capturing apparatus body,opposite to the surface where the attachment portion is arranged.
 3. Theimage capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the built-inmicrophone is located on an opposite side of the image sensor to thelens mount in an optical axis direction of the shooting lens.
 4. Theimage capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the built-inmicrophone is located on the same side of the image capturing apparatusbody as a surface where a recording medium is inserted and removed. 5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the built-inmicrophone is located on the same side of the image capturing apparatusbody as a surface where operation members are arranged.
 6. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a holdingmember that has a protruding portion and an insertion hole, and holds aprotrusion provided on the accessory, and a fastening member that has ashaft portion and a screw portion, and fastens the holding member to theimage capturing apparatus body by screwing the screw portion into theimage capturing apparatus body through the insertion hole and fittingthe shaft portion in the insertion hole.
 7. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the insertion hole is formedinto a substantially elliptical shape, and a longitudinal direction ofthe substantially elliptical shape is substantially parallel to a lineconnecting between the center of the substantially elliptical shape andthe center of the protruding portion.
 8. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the fastening member has a thin shaftportion which is smaller in diameter than both of the shaft portion andthe screw portion, between the screw portion and the shaft portion, andwherein a retaining member is fitted on the thin shaft portion in astate in which the screw portion has been inserted through the insertionhole, whereby the fastening member is prevented from dropping off fromthe insertion hole.
 9. The image capturing apparatus according to claim8, wherein in the fastening member, the shaft portion and the thin shaftportion are connected by a tapered portion having a smoothly changingshaft diameter, and wherein as the screw portion is screwed into theimage capturing apparatus body, the insertion hole is guided byengagement between the tapered portion and the insertion hole, and theshaft portion is fitted in the insertion hole in a state in which thecenter of the fastening member coincides with the center of theinsertion hole.
 10. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8,wherein the holding member is formed with a recessed portion around theinsertion hole and on a side opposed to the image capturing apparatusbody, and the retaining member is received into the recessed portionwhen the screw portion is screwed into the image capturing apparatusbody.
 11. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein ina state in which the accessory has been attached to the image capturingapparatus body in advance, the holding member is interfered with theprotrusion provided on the accessory and cannot be fastened to the imagecapturing apparatus body.
 12. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising a holding member having a protruding portionand also having a holding hole for holding a protrusion provided on theaccessory, and a fastening member that has a screw portion, and fastensthe holding member to the image capturing apparatus body by having thescrew portion screwed into the image capturing apparatus body.
 13. Theimage capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising anelectrical connection portion that is provided on a first surface of theimage capturing apparatus body and electrically connects the accessorythereto, a positioning portion that is provided at a locationoverlapping a projected shadow of the electrical connection portion on asecond surface of the image capturing apparatus body, which is adjacentand substantially orthogonal to the first surface, a fixing portionwhich is provided at a location not overlapping the projected shadow ofthe electrical connection portion on the second surface, and to which asupport for holding the accessory attached to the image capturingapparatus body is fixed, and a connection portion which is provided at alocation on an opposite side of the electrical connection portion to thefixing portion and to which a cover member for covering the electricalconnection portion is connected.
 14. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 12, wherein the accessory is a wireless unit thatenables wireless connection to an external device.
 15. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the accessory is awireless unit that enables wireless connection to an external device.16. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theimage capturing apparatus body is capable of having a grip unitrotatably attached thereto or has the grip unit rotatably attachedthereto, wherein speaker holes are formed in an exterior cover on a sideof the image capturing apparatus body, which is opposed to the gripunit, and wherein a clearance is provided between the grip unit and thespeaker holes.
 17. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16,wherein the clearance is secured over the whole range through which thegrip unit can be rotated.
 18. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 16, wherein in an angle range through which the grip unit can berotated, as viewed from a side of the surface of the image capturingapparatus body where the grip unit is arranged, an angle range withinwhich the speaker holes are hidden by the grip unit is wider than anangle range within which the speaker holes are not hidden by the gripunit.
 19. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, whereinthe speaker holes are arranged in a surface of the image capturingapparatus body on an opposite side to a surface of the image capturingapparatus body where holes for collecting sound for a microphone arearranged.
 20. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising: a fan for air cooling, and a circuit board on whicha detection element is mounted, and wherein the circuit board is fixedto an exterior unit arranged on an opposite side of the fan to the imagesensor.
 21. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 20, whereinthe detection element is one of an angular velocity sensor, anacceleration sensor, and a geomagnetic sensor.
 22. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 20, wherein the circuit board and a mainprocessing circuit board on which a CPU is mounted are connected bywires.
 23. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: an attachment portion which has a fastening portion forhaving the accessory fastened thereto, and to which the accessory can beremovably attached, and a duct part that forms an air flow passagethrough which air for forced cooling flows, wherein the fasteningportion has thermal conductivity, and is arranged adjacent to an airinlet port for drawing air for forced cooling by the duct part, andconnected to the duct part.
 24. The image capturing apparatus accordingto claim 23, wherein the fastening portion is connected to the duct partat a location closer to the air inlet port than an air outlet port fordischarging the air used for forced cooling by the duct part.
 25. Theimage capturing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein in a state inwhich the accessory is attached to the attachment portion, the accessoryis closer to the air inlet port than the air outlet port.
 26. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the fastening portionhas a flat portion, and wherein the flat portion is in contact with theduct part.
 27. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 23,wherein the fastening portion has an insertion hole, and has a screwportion outside the insertion hole, and wherein the accessory isattached to the attachment portion by screwing the screw portion and ascrew portion provided on the accessory to each other.
 28. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the fastening portionis formed of a metallic material.
 29. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 23, wherein the duct part is formed of anelectrically conductive member.
 30. The image capturing apparatusaccording to claim 23, wherein the attachment portion and the air inletport are arranged on substantially the same plane.
 31. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein in a state in whichthe accessory is attached to the attachment portion, a longitudinaldirection of the accessory and a longitudinal direction of the air inletport are substantially parallel to each other.
 32. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 23, wherein in a state in which theaccessory is attached to the attachment portion, a longitudinaldirection of the accessory and a longitudinal direction of the air inletport are both substantially orthogonal to a shooting optical axisdirection.
 33. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 23,wherein a direction in which the accessory is attached to the attachmentportion and a direction in which air drawn into the air inlet portmainly flows are substantially parallel to each other.
 34. The imagecapturing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein a first heat sourcewhich generates heat is inside the image capturing apparatus body,wherein a second heat source which generates heat is inside theaccessory, and wherein in a state in which the accessory is attached tothe attachment portion, the second heat source is more distant from theduct part than the first heat source is.
 35. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 23, wherein in a state in which theaccessory is attached to the attachment portion, a predetermined spaceis formed between a grip unit for holding the image capturing apparatusbody and the accessory.
 36. The image capturing apparatus according toclaim 23, wherein the accessory includes a wireless unit which enableswireless connection to an external device, wherein the wireless unit hasan antenna portion for transmitting and receiving wireless radio waves,and wherein in a state in which the wireless unit is attached to theattachment portion, the antenna portion protrudes from an outsidesurface of the image capturing apparatus body.
 37. The image capturingapparatus according to claim 23, wherein in a state in which theaccessory is attached to the attachment portion, the accessory protrudesfrom a side surface and an upper surface of the image capturingapparatus body.